Surgical appliance and method of forming the same.



A. M GORDLEY. SURGIUAL APPLIANCE AND METHOD OF FORMING THE SAME.

APPLICATION FILED MAR. 14, 190B,

920, 1 1 2. Patented May 4, 1909.

bodiment in a support for the foot and in the UNITED ANNIE M. OORDLEY, OF GLENRIDGE, NEW JERSEY.

SURGICAL APPLIANCE AND ME Application filed March 14,

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, ANNIE M. CORDLEY, a citizen of the United States, residing in Glenridge, in the State of New Jersey, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Surgical Appliances and Methods of Forming the Same, of which the following is a specification, reference being had to the accompanying drawing, forming a part hereof.

It frequently becomes necessary, in the event of injury to any part of the body or of disease which attacks locally some part of the body, to provide a rigid support for the affected part of the body, either for the purpose of affording comfort or of promoting the restoration of affected tissues to normal condition. Various expedients have been resorted to for the general purpose indicated. Thus, a textile fabric, saturated with a stiffening solution or mixture, has been conformed, while wet, to the part of the body to be supported and has then been allowed to dry and harden. Such a support has the proper shape provided it is not ost before the supporter becomes dry and hard, and it has also the desirable quality of lightness, but it is not sufficiently stiff and unyielding for all f purposes. Where an absolutely rigid support is required as, for exam is, for the arch of the foot, a metal plate has een hammered to approximately the desired sha e, and meta plates are also stamped or 1110 ded by machinery. The latter, that is, the plates I stamped or molded by machinery, do not, exce t as a matter of accident, conform so close y to the normal shape of the individual foot as to permit their use for surgical purposes, and the former, that is, the plate hammered by a skilful artisan to conform to the individual foot, may answer the purpose in some cases, so far as the surgical requirements are concerned, but it usually falls so farshort of the exact conformation as to cause great discomfort to the user.

It is the object of this invention to provide a support which, by reason of its exact con formation and the nature of the material of which it is composed, shall overcome the difi ficulties and objections above enumerated, being capable of being worn without discomi fort and of furnishing an absolutely rigid sup ort when such a support is necessary.

1e invention is more particularly described hereinafter with reference to its em- Specification of Letters Patent.

. which embodies the invention.

THOD OF FORMING THE SAME.

Patented May 4, 1909.

1908. Serial No. 421,015.

method of forming such a support, and in the accompanying drawing, which is merely illustrative of the general nature of the invention, Figure l is a top view of a foot support Fig. 2 is an underside view of the same, and Fig. 3 is a transverse section.

In practicing the invention, so far as it resides in the method, and in producing the support which also embodies the method, a cast of the foot or other part of the body is first formed in any convenient manner, as by first forming a mold of plaster of paris or other suitable material of the part of the body to be supported and then making a cast therefrom, preferably in plaster of paris, so that the cast presents the exact conformation of the part of the body to be supported. The cast is then suitably prepared, as by coating it with black lead and the support is formed thereon by elcctro-deposition in the usual and well known manner. Any suitable metal, which is readily capable of eleciro-deposition, may be used for the purpose and the electro-dcposition thereof is continned until a support of substantial thickness and rigidity is formed. Such a support is shown as (L in the drawing, and it will be obvious that such support, so formed upon a cast of the foot, wil conform precisely to the natural conformation of the foot and is not liable to change after being removed from the cast. irioreover, as will be obvious, the

isupport is of substantial thickness and is, therefore, capable of being used without discomfort, even between the sole of the foot and the sole of the shoe. As is well understood, however, most metals which lend themselves most readily to electi'oaleposition are not only relatively soft but become spongy when the electro-deposition continues b yond a limited thickness. In some cases, therefore, the support formed by electrodeposition only has not sufficient strength to properly support the part of the body for which it is intended. This is par ticularly true in the case of a support for the arch of the foot. It is therefore sometimes necessary to reinforce and stiffen the electrodcposited support by securing to the outer surface thereof reinforcing or stiffening strips Z) of a metal stiffer than that which can be employed to advantage in electro-deposition. These reinforcing and stiffening strips maybe riveted to the electro-deposited shell (1, as indicated at 0, but they are preferpiece of relatively stiffer metal to the surface ably formed of such metal as to permit them l of said layer.

to be secured to the shell a throughout their length, as by solder, as indicated at d. The number and position of such stiffening strips will depend upon the requirements of each case.

The supporter, formed as described, combines the maximum of comfort for the user with the degree of stiffness required by the surgical conditions.

I claim as my invention:

1. The method of forming a support for a portion of the body which consists in forming a mold of the portion of the body to be supported, taking a cast from said mold, preparing the surface of the cast for electrodeposition of metal thereon, electrically depositing a layer of metal on such cast to a so substantial thickness, and reinforcing the layer of metal thus produced by securing a 2. A support. for a portion of the body comprising anelec'trowleposited shell conforming to the portion of the body to be supported and a reinforcing strip of relatively stiffer metal secured to the outer surface thereof.

3. A support for a portion of the body comprising an electro-deposited shell conforming to the portion of the body to be supported and a reinforcing strip of relatively stiffer metal soldered throughout its length to the outer surface of the electro-deposited shell. 7

This specification signed and witnessed this fourth day of March, A. D., 1908.

ANNIE M. CORDLEY.

Signed in the presence of- HELEN lvEs HAIGHT, EVA M. WooLrALLn. 

